Why You May Want To Try A Boar Bristle Hair Brush

A boar bristle hairbrush may just be the thing you've been missing from your hair care routine. While many of us tend to stick to synthetic hairbrushes because of how well they can detangle the hair, there are actually many benefits you could be missing out on if you're sleeping on boar bristles. One of the biggies? "A good boar bristle brush is like a fine wine, it gets better with age," founder and creative director of Raincry, Feisal Qureshi, told Mane. That means, if properly cared for, your boar bristle brush could far outlast your current synthetic one (which may only last between five months and a year).

But it's not all about the lifespan of a boar bristle brush. It turns out swapping your synthetic brush for boar bristles has a whole host of pros to actually make your hair look and feel healthier, including naturally adding shine and removing dirt. And we're breaking down all those big benefits for you. One pro tip before we get started, though? Make sure if you do make the transition from synthetic to boar, that you're getting a brush that's all boar bristles. Not a mixture of boar and nylon. "Nylon will neutralize any benefit of the boar bristles as nylon blows open the cuticle and helps to remove oils — so you are paying more for a brush but will get none of the benefits of boar bristle," Qureshi explained.

One of the biggest benefits of using a boar bristle brush on your locks is the impressive shine it can bring to your hair. As salon deZEN founder Maria Elizabeth explained to Real Simple, this brush style is great for getting your hair's precious natural oils from the top of your hair all the way down to the bottom, creating a natural shine. The way to do this? "Run a boar bristle brush through your hair daily to evenly distribute oil from the scalp to the ends," Elizabeth recommended. "A boar bristle brush will close the hair cuticle, which will help create more shine."

As Feisal Qureshi told Mane, it's not just any brush that has the ability to distribute oils evenly like this. "Boar bristle is very unique as it is the only material we know of that can naturally condition hair by transferring oils from the roots to ends and help add shine by simultaneously closing the cuticle," he said. Impressive!

Another big plus when it comes to buying a boar bristle brush? Naturally cleaner hair with no more effort. Yep, this type of brush will also help remove things like dirt and dead skin that may have become trapped in your hair or on your scalp without the need for constant shampooing. That in itself has a number of benefits, as too much shampooing can dry out your locks, make them limp and lifeless, or make your hair more susceptible to damage.

The reason boar bristle brushes are so good at cleaning the hair is because the bristles are grouped much closer together and they have more texture than most synthetic brushes. For that reason, boar bristles can catch and remove things caught in the hair much more easily than other types of hairbrushes. As stylist Olivia Smalley put it to Allure, "As the boar bristles come in contact with your hair, they are actually brushing out the dead cells from your scalp and getting rid of product buildup and dust."

It's not just all about how the hair looks on the outside when it comes to the benefits of boar bristle brushes, though. This brush type can also make your hair generally healthier from the inside as well. That's because this type of brush can even aid the scalp. Speaking to Allure, hairstylist Kim Kimble explained, "[Boar bristle brushes] are also great for massaging the scalp and promoting blood flow, which is important for healthy hair."

But that's not all! Boar bristle hairbrushes can also help prevent unwanted hair breakage and damage, which can potentially keep things like split ends at bay. "Boar bristle brushes are great because their soft bristles glide through hair, leading to less hair breakage during styling," Kimble shared. And that's great news considering the fact that boar bristle brushes can be a really great tool for styling hair, which means you won't be getting damage from your brush in addition to the heat applied to your locks.

Another reason you may want to get your hands on a boar bristle brush? You're a curly girl. These hairbrushes can have some big benefits for those with gorgeous curls. Because these brushes don't have plastic or nylon on the bristles and tend to be softer than synthetic brushes, they can be much less harsh on curly hair which can often have a tendency to get knotty easily.

Boar bristles actually contain keratin, according to Prose, which is naturally found in our hair (as well as our skin and nails). Keratin is often used to soften and straighten the hair, and you may even have heard of people getting keratin treatments to make their locks more manageable. "Keratin treatments are semi-permanent hair straightening treatments that smooth and add shine to frizzy hair," celebrity hairstylist and NatureLab Tokyo brand ambassador Andrew Fitzsimons explained to Harper's Bazaar. Though keratin-containing bristles won't make your hair any straighter, it's a less harsh way to brush your gorgeous curls which can easily be damaged and tangled. However, if you have really thick curly hair that needs a lot of detangling, you may be better off with a nylon brush.